‘It’s offensive’: John Durham slams Rep. Matt Gaetz over ‘cover up’ allegations

Former special counsel John Durham on Wednesday slammed Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) amid a tense exchange during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.

Durham grew angry with Gaetz after the far-right congressman accused the prosecutor of being involved in a “cover up” to protect those his office was supposed to be investigating.

Gaetz and Durham sparred over the scope of the special counsel’s investigation into the origins of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of the Trump administration over allegations the former president’s campaign coordinated with Russia in 2016 to damage his political opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Durham’s report was critical of the FBI and the Department of Justice’s handling of the Russia probe, but Gaetz suggested Durham didn’t go far enough.

The exchange between Gaetz and Durham got especially testy after the Florida congressman accused the special counsel’s office of failing to investigate Mueller’s team wiping its phones, which Gaetz suggested contained evidence of wrongdoing.

“That was not something that we were asked to look at,” Durham said.

Gaetz interrupted, saying “That's not true.”

“I'm holding a document that authorizes your activity and it specifically says the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller."

After Durham disputed Gaetz’s characterization of the scope of the special counsel’s investigation, the Florida congressman alleged that Durham was involved in a “cover up.”

“The FBI did a bunch of wrong and corrupt things. Totally understand. We're trying to deal with that. But when you are part of the cover up, Mr. Durham, and it makes our job harder,” Gaetz said.

Durham slammed Gaetz, calling his remark “offensive.”

“Yeah, well if that's your thought, I mean, there's no way of dissuading you from that, I can tell you that it's offensive, and that the people who worked on this investigation have spent their lives trying to protect people in this country and pursue within the law what it is that we can authorize to do.”

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